Many prior art systems function to recognize when a credit card is withdrawn from a wallet for the purpose of alerting a user. For example, when a user withdraws a credit card from his wallet in a restaurant, an audible alert can be periodically sounded until the missing card is returned. Although such systems can be helpful in reducing the likelihood of a user inadvertently leaving his credit card at the restaurant, they are of little help to a user who only later discovers the card is missing and is unable to recall where he left it. Moreover, periodically alerting the user while waiting for the waiter to return the card can be bothersome.